Silo base anchor



July 14,' 1942. F. J. VAN co'r'r ET AL 2,289,604

' SLO BASE ANCHORV opiginal Filed oct. 1o, 1938 @m f/mw @a Patented July14, 1942 SILO BASE ANCHOR Frank J. Van Gott and Leon J. Van Cott,Unadilla, N. Y.

Original application October 10, 1938, Serial No. 234,334. Divided andthis application July 14,

1941, Serial No. 402,354

4 Claims.

The invention relates to silo structures and particularly a base anchordevice for securing the silo walls to a foundation.

Among the objects of the invention is to provide a new and improved silobase anchor which is easy and inexpensive to construct and simple toinstall.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved silobase anchor wherein the bracket portion can be made from a singlemetallic strap and bent into such form that it gives relatively amaximum amount of reinforcing to the piece when in erected position.

Still anotherlobject of the invention is to provide base anchorconstruction which makes it unnecessary to locate tie rods in thefoundation on precise centers, there being provided a tolerance in thelocation of the bracket on the silo which will permit diverting orbending the upper end of the tie rod so as to properly engage thebracket without sacrificing any rigidity of construction or properamount of bracing.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in theconstruction, arrangeu ment and combination of the various parts of thedevice whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinaftermore fully set forth, pointed out in the claims and illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a partial elevation of the lower end of a silo inperspective.

Figure 2 is a perspective View of a portion of a silo showing one of thebase anchors in place.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a top View partially in section on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 shows a piece of strap metal prior to being bent into the formof the base anchor bracket.

This is a division of our copending case Serial No. 234,334, filedOctober 10, 1938, Patent No. 2,266,102, for a Silo construction.

In silo structures, two elements must be kept in mind if the device isto have a practical and widespread use. It is frequently the case thatparts for construction of a silo are sold to farmers distant from placeswhere skilled craftsmen can be employed in the erection of the silo.Consequently, farmers are called upon in frequent instances to erect thesilos themselves. This is particularly true of silos made up of aplurality of staves and formed like a large barrel on end. With themeans at his disposal, the farmer is frequently not equipped toprecisely center tie rods in a concrete foundation and these, in largesilos of 14 or more feet in diameter, might be one or two inches offcenter in some instances. When the ordinary means of attaching tie rodsto a silo base are used, it is frequently impossible to connect the tierods properly to brackets or other means of attachment to the silo wallitself if the rods are off center as much as two inches. Once a largefoundation has been poured with the tie rods set in place slightly -offcenter, it becomes practically impossible to reset them in their properplaces without breaking the foundation apart and repouring parts of it.

It is furthermore very necessary that silo hardware be of very simpleand inexpensive conn struction. The parts are not made in greatquantities and consequently, quantity production is never a factor inkeeping the price at a low figure. Therefore, it becomes highlyessential to make the hardware parts as inexpensive as the requiredsafety in construction will permit and at the same time, make them sosimple in form and manner of application that a skilled mechanic is notneeded to install them.

As shown in the drawing, a wooden stave silo IU is mounted upon aconcrete foundation I2. The silo is constructed of a plurality ofindividual wood staves I4 bound together by an iron hoop I6 and securedto each other by dowels inserted into the guide apertures I8.

The wall of the silo comprising the staves is secured to the foundationby means of a base anchor consisting of a tie rod 2) having a lower bentportion 22 anchored in the foundation I2. These rods are set in thefoundation on proper centers when the foundation is poured. Asillustrated in Figure 3, the position of the tie rod in the foundationshould be outside the outer surface of the staves or silo wall andinside the outer edgey of the foundation.

The base anchor also consists of a bracket dei signated by the character24 and a pair of wings 26 which extend diagonally outward from a centralportion 28. In the embodiment of my invention chosen for the purpose ofillustration, the wings extend in an upward direction outwardly from thecenter. It is preferred that the wings extend a distance sufficient foreach to overlie at least two staves where the silo is made of separatestaves.

It will be noted that the central portion 28 is substantially horizontalin erected position and that the wings 26 lie in a perpendicular planeflat against the outside wall of the silo to which they are bolted bymeans of bolts 30.

Intermediate portions 32 triangular in shape connect the horizontalcentral portion with the vertical wings. It will be noted and especiallyevident from an examination of Figure 5, that the intermediate portionshave a line of contact with the wings and the central portion greaterthan the width of the strip of metal forming the bracket and it iscontemplated that this additional length of contact supplies a greaterreinforcement for the bracket, preventing it from being easily twistedor distorted once it has been completely formed. The central portion isprovided with an aperture 34 for reception of the upper end of the tierod 2B.

When the silo is constructed and anchored by means of the base anchorshere shown, tie rods are first located on approximate centers but asubstantial tolerance in the location of these centers is permitted.Then the staves are mounted in place and the hoops applied. Sometimeafter the first or lower set of staves has been put in place, thebracket 25 is slipped over the upper end of the tie rod so that theaperture 34 receives the tie rod. If the rod has not been properlycentered, either with respect to its distance outwardly from the outerwall of the silo or circumferentially about the foundation, the top maybe diverted one way or the other so that when the bracket is fastened tothe walls of the silo, the wings will overlie each a plurality of stavesand be secured separately to individual staves. After the wings havebeen bolted fast to the staves, a washer 36 is placed over the upper endof the rod and a nut 38 screwed down against the washer. The nut canthen be drawn up tight, securely anchoring the bracket to thefoundation.

In practice it has been found that the central portion 23 gives betterservice if it is tilted slightly downward at its outer edge, though nota distance substantially departing from a horizontal position. When sotilted, rain water and moisture which might collect on the centralportion is drained away from the wall of the silo and prevents rustingof the bracket or rotting of the silo wall at the point of contact ofthe edge of the central portion with the edge of the wall of the silo.

There has thus been provided a base anchor for a silo which is simple inconstruction and easy to install in the eld without the aid of expertcraftsmen.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of our baseanchor construction wthout departing from the real spirit and purpose ofour invention. We therefore intend to cover by our claims such modifiedforms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents as may be reasonablyincluded within their scope.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a silo structure including a foundation and a silo mounted thereonhaving its base set inward from the edge of the foundation thecombination of a base anchor comprising a rod anchored in the foundationbetween the edge thereof and the outside surface of the silo, an angularplate comprising a strip of metal having a pair of wings extendingoutwardly and lying flat against the outer surface of the silo, meansfor securing the wings to the silo, a central substantially fiathorizontal portion between said Wings having a rod aperture therein,intermediate portions connecting said Wings with said central portion,said plate being secured to the silo wall in a position wherein the rodaperture is approximately above the rod, said rod having the position ofits upper end diverted from the point of contact of its lower end withthe foundation where necessary for reception within said aperture, andfastening means for attaching the rod to the plate.

2. In a silo structure including a foundation and a wood stave silomounted thereon having its base set inward from the edge of thefoundation the combination of a base anchor comprising a threaded rodanchored in the foundation between the edge thereof and the outsidesurfaces of the staves, an angular plate comprising a single strip ofmetal having a pair of wings each extending outwardly and upwardly andlying flat against the outer surfaces of a plurality ol' staves, meansfor securing the wings to the staves, a central substantially flathorizontal portio-n between said wings having a rod aperture therein,intermediate diagonally-bent portions connecting said wings with saidcentral portion, said plate being secured to the silo wall in a positionapproximately centering the rod aperture over the rod, said rod havingthe position oi' its upper end diverted from the point of contact of itslower end with the foundation where necessary for reception within saidaperture, and fastening means for attaching the rod to the plate andpulling said plate downwardly toward the foundation, and a reinforcingwasher between the nut and the central portion extending from edge toedge of said central portion.

3. A silo base anchor for fastening silo walls to a foundationcomprising a bracket including a single metallic strap shapedsubstantially in the form of a V wherein side wings extend diagonallyoutward and when in erected position have the faces thereof lying in aplane parallel to the wall of a silo, a central flat portion whenerected having a position substantially perpendicular to the wall of thesilo, and an intermediate flat strip at each side triangular in shapeconnected at one edge to the adjacent end of the central portion and atanother edge to the adjalent end of the side wing, attaching means forsecuring the wings to the silo and anchoring means for securing saidcentra-1 portion to the foundation.

4. In a silo structure a silo wall, a foundation, and base anchors atspaced points along said wall each comprising a strap `and a tie rod,said straps having their ends bolted to said wall and their centralportions twisted to a plane at Vsubstantially right angles to thesurface of said Wall, said central portions having perforations therein,said tie rods having their lower ends imbedded in the foundation andtheir upper ends threaded and extending through said perforations, andnuts on said threaded ends.

FRANK J. vAN COTT. LEON J. VAN corr.

